Flash
by George Stark II
Summary: Takes the premise of ABC's FlashForward and applies it to House. NOT a crossover. You do NOT need to be familiar with FlashForward to read and enjoy this story. Eventual House/Wilson slash.
1. Blackout

**A/N:** This story is not technically a crossover because it only follows the stories of characters from House. However, the premise for this particular story comes from an event that happens in another TV show, FlashForward. You DO NOT have to be familiar with the show FlashForward to understand and enjoy this story. I will summarize the premise for anyone who is unfamiliar with the show. If you have seen FlashForward or know what it's about, you can skip the next part. The story takes place after episode 6.18, "Open and Shut" because that was the most recent episode as I wrote this.

**Premise: **Everyone on the planet experiences a blackout lasting two minutes and seventeen seconds. During this blackout, most everyone sees a vision of themselves six months into the future. Some people see nothing, and presume that because they have no vision they are dead six months in the future. Some people like what they see and want the vision to come true, others dread what they see and want to change the future so it doesn't happen. Some people believe that their vision is their fate and that it must come true regardless of whether or not they like it. Since everyone blacked out for two minutes, there were a lot of car crashes and plane crashes and stuff and casualties. So the hospital's gonna be pretty busy.

**Changes:** In the real show FlashForward, the blackout takes place at 11:00 am PST on October 6, 2009 and the visions occur at 10:00 pm PST on April 29, 2010. Since it's more convenient for me, I'm changing the time of the blackout to 8:00 am EST on April 6 and the time of the visions to 10:00 pm EST on October 29.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own House or any of its characters. I do not own the idea of a global blackout resulting in a flash-forward. I do own the idea of applying the FlashForward premise to the House characters in order to change Wilson and House's relationship. But that's it.

Flash

**April 6**

"If you finish up your cereal, I can give you a ride to work. Save some gas money."

"True, but then I wouldn't be able to savor the feeling of freedom as I ride to work. The freedom of not having to listen to the girly songs on your favorite radio station, the freedom of not having to hear you bitch and moan about your poor dying cancer kiddies..."

"But then you won't be able to savor the pleasure of my company," the oncologist teased, smiling at his friend.

"I thought Sam had a monopoly on the pleasure of your company," House retorted, looking over at Wilson as he dipped his spoon into the cereal.

"Nope, she's more than happy to share," Wilson insisted.

"Thanks for the offer, Wilson, but I'm a big boy and I can-"

_Wilson heard laughter. He couldn't see, but that was only because his eyes were closed. He opened them and saw House's smiling face inches from his own. He was the one laughing. Wilson leaned forward and kissed House, smiling against his lips before slipping his tongue in and probing around. It only lasted a moment. Wilson pulled back again, looking at House. Their arms were around each other's waists. "I love you," Wilson whispered. House nodded. "I know." "Say it back," Wilson pleaded, grinning. "Come on, you already know-" "-You say it, though. Remember?" "All right, fine," House answered, rolling his eyes but still smiling. "I love you, James Wilson." Wilson laughed, leaning forward to kiss House again. He felt their mouths together, felt House's tongue flicking his own-_

Wilson opened his eyes. He was on the floor of his condo. His hip hurt; he must have fallen and landed on it. He heard House moan and looked over--he was on the floor, too, and he had a bad leg.

"House!" Wilson cried, scrambling up. "Are you all right?"

House nodded but moaned again, his hand clutching his thigh. "On second thought, I'll take that ride to work...but better use the E.R. entrance...oh!"

Wilson wrapped an arm around House's waist, helping him up. "What happened?"

"I don't know. I think I passed out or something. Hand me my cane, I want to see if I can walk."

Wilson reached for it but as his body pulled away from House's he seemed to lose his balance. Wilson steadied him with his other hand. "Maybe I should just call an ambulance."

"Don't be ridiculous. I just fell and happened to land on the wrong side. I'll be fine."

"Let's at least sit you down," Wilson said, helping him over to a chair. "How's the pain?" he asked, going back to retrieve House's cane.

"Eight when I fell, now a seven."

"I really don't think you should try to walk," Wilson pointed out, handing House his cane.

"Just let me try." Leaning heavily on the cane, House slowly tried to stand up, but then he shook his head and fell back down on the chair. "All right, you can help me," House sighed.

Wilson pulled House's arm over his shoulder and wrapped his other arm around his waist, supporting him as they limped out of the loft. He looked back and noticed his briefcase on the floor, but shook his head. He could come back for it later, after he made sure House was okay. It was only as he helped House into the car that he began to wonder, why had the both passed out at exactly the same time?

He pulled the car out of the parking garage and onto the street before uttering an involuntary, "Oh my god!"

There was smoke everywhere. Buildings were on fire, cars were on fire, cars were crashed, children were crying, there were people on the ground and people bleeding. Wilson opened the car door and stood up, looking around to see better.

"What the hell happened?" he asked himself.

House moaned, and Wilson got back in the car. "What is it?"

"Pain's back up," House gasped.

"Hold on," Wilson said. "I'm gonna try to get us to the hospital. Hang in there, okay?"

House nodded and Wilson pressed on the gas pedal.

He had to drive carefully; car accidents were everywhere. He tried to go as fast as was safe, for House's sake, but he couldn't help staring around at all the destruction. What was going on? Was this all some sort of bad dream? It felt like an apocalypse or something. His stomach lurched. What if something had happened to the hospital? Or, more likely, what if the hospital was so packed with people hurt from...whatever had just happened to Princeton...that there wouldn't be anyone available to look at House?

"House, listen to me," Wilson said. "I don't know what the chances are of getting a room in the E.R. We can go there first, but I think I'll just take you to my office and examine you there. I'll get you whatever medicine you need, I'll make sure you're taken care of. But from the looks of this..." he allowed them both a moment to survey the disaster surrounding them. "...I think there are gonna be other people further ahead in line."

**A/N: **Please leave reviews, I'd like to know what you all think.


	2. Global Blackout

**A/N: **This chapter is more about the effects of the blackout rather than something that really moves the story along, so I'll post chapter three at the same time.

* * *

The emergency room was more packed than Wilson had ever seen it. He managed to steal a wheelchair for House and took him up to his office just as he said and then went to get some supplies for the exam.

"Wilson," a frazzled-looking Cuddy said when she saw him. "Thank god you're here. All non-emergent surgeries are put on hold, we need everyone down in the E.R.-"

"'-I'll get down there as soon as I can," Wilson cut her off. "House is hurt, he passed out-"

"-James, everyone passed out. How do you think this happened?"

"Wait," Wilson stopped in his tracks. "_Everyone_ passed out?"

"Yeah," Cuddy nodded. "At first we thought it was just the hospital. I woke up and everyone was on the floor. Then people started coming in, bleeding, mostly from traffic accidents, and everyone is saying the same thing, they blacked out and had some sort of dream or vision. Isn't that what happened to you?"

"Yeah," Wilson said, running his fingers through his hair. "I wonder what-"

"-Let's talk about this later," Cuddy interrupted. "I have a thousand things to take care of, and as soon as you're done with House, get down to the E.R. If he's healthy enough to move I want him checking on your patients. If not, keep him in one of your offices, we don't have nearly enough beds. And hurry, please." She ran off.

Wilson looked at her feet. She was wearing sneakers. Wilson didn't even think she _owned_ a pair of sneakers, let alone kept them at the hospital in case of emergencies. More than the buildings on fire, more than the smoke everywhere, the bleeding children, the countless car crashes, this told him exactly how serious this was.

* * *

"This is all I'm giving you, House," Wilson warned, pressing down on the needle. House nodded, closing his eyes. There wasn't too much damage; just some bruising. It was only the fact that he'd fallen on his right leg that made the pain so much worse than it should have been.

"Well Cuddy needed me down in the E.R., so I'll be back up to check on you in a few hours. If something goes wrong, don't hesitate to page me, okay?" Wilson looked down at House, catching his eye for a moment. House nodded. "All right, feel better." He clapped House's shoulder and then left the office.

Wilson knew that Cuddy needed him ASAP, but if it was true that _everyone_ in the area had passed out, then this phone call was more important.

"Hello?"

"Sam?"

"James, I'm so glad you called. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. There were so many car accidents, the hospital's a mess..."

"I know, that's why I didn't call you first. As soon as I found out what happened, I wanted to check on you, but I thought you'd be occupied with patients and didn't want to interrupt."

"I know. I'm supposed to be in the E.R. now, actually, but I just had to check first and make sure nothing had happened to you."

"I'm fine. I was getting dressed when it happened, I just fell on my floor, my carpeted floor in my bedroom. I don't even have any bruises. I'm fine."

"That's great to hear. I'll call you when I get out of work and maybe come over."

"Good. Now go help some hurt people, James. I love you."

Wilson nodded in return, forgetting the fact that she couldn't see him, muttered a goodbye and closed the phone. He went down to the emergency room.

It was heartbreaking. People were bleeding everywhere, many were standing because there weren't enough chairs. Parents that looked like they'd been in the center of an explosion were begging the doctors to inspect their sobbing children. Some people had passed out from losing too much blood because no one had been able to get to them in time. The nurses and doctors were stressed, surveying the room, unsure whether to first treat those in the worst condition...or those who had the best chance of survival.

A girl who couldn't be older than ten was carrying a sleeping infant. At least Wilson hoped it was sleeping. She approached him. "Excuse me," she said in a tiny voice.

Wilson wondered how she could be so polite at a time like this.

"Are you a doctor?"

"Yes. Are you okay? Where are your parents?"

Tears started to run down her cheeks. Wilson regretted his question instantly.

"Daddy wasn't with us. Mom said she couldn't get out of the car. She said to take my sister to the hospital. Please, Doctor, is she all right?"

He wordlessly took the baby from her. Relieved, he found a pulse. "She's alive. I'll have to examine her..." He looked around. Just where he would examine her, he hadn't a clue.

* * *

It was the most exhausting day of Wilson's life. He'd lost track of time and over six hours had passed since he promised to go check on House before he actually made it up. At first he panicked when House wasn't in his office, but he noticed him in the diagnostics room, treating patients.

"You're feeling better?"

House shrugged. He was still in the wheelchair from that morning, but at a time like this a doctor in a wheelchair was better than no doctor at all.

"Is there anything I can get you?"

"A cheeseburger would be nice."

Wilson's stomach rumbled. He'd completely forgotten about eating. "I'll be back in a few minutes," he promised.

He got sidetracked on the way to the cafeteria, so a few minutes became another two hours, but House didn't seem to notice and neither did he. The cheeseburger became half a turkey sandwich, because sandwiches were all the cafeteria was giving out at the time, but they were free. Wilson handed the sandwich to House, who ate it quickly and without complaint.

The sky darkened around the hospital and more and more people came in. Patients who would normally need to stay for observation got discharged immediately to free up space. The morgue didn't have enough room for all the people who didn't make it.


	3. The Future

**April 7**

It was past one in the morning before Wilson came back to see House again. Both of their offices as well as the diagnostic room had been turned into temporary exam rooms. House's was empty at the moment and he beckoned Wilson over to his desk. He showed him the computer screen, where he was streaming video of an anchor at a news desk.

"At precisely 8am this morning the entire human population simultaneously lost consciousness. The majority of people claim to have seen some sort of vision which some are saying they believe to be the future."

The video cut to an interview on the street, where they could still see signs of destruction everywhere.

"I was at college," a teenage girl explained. "I actually just sent in my acceptance letter last week. This morning I was brushing my teeth, and suddenly I was there, in a dorm room with all my stuff. I was watching TV with my roommate."

"I know it was the future," a woman insisted. "I was looking at my calendar like I do every night before I go to bed, checking what appointments I have the next day. The date I was looking at was October 30th, which means this event has to occur on October 29th. It's not a memory from last year; I was living in a different apartment last October."

"We were in Paris," a happy looking man said, his arm around a girl. "She's been trying to convince me have our honeymoon there since we got engaged. The wedding's in October. I guess she wins." He smiled at her.

"Did we really all just see our future?" the news anchor asked. "Are our visions actually going to come true? So far they seem to match up."

Another interview. "I saw myself having dinner at my sister's house, and of course the first thing I did was call her up, and she says she saw herself hosting a dinner party and that I was there. She told me I was wearing a blue dress, and I said she was serving chicken marsala. We had the same vision."

"However," the anchor continued, "There are some that didn't see anything at all."

"I don't know," a man said, shrugging. "I just...blacked out. I was in my kitchen making breakfast, then suddenly I was on the kitchen floor. There was nothing there."

"Yeah, I'm not sure what people are talking about," a woman said. "I was laying in bed and honestly I thought I'd just fallen back asleep until I looked out the window and turned on the news."

"So what does this mean?" the anchor asked. "Do some of us not have a future? Is this really the future at all, or just some strange dream? The FBI has created a web site, , where people from all over the globe are entering their flash-forward stories."

The news clip ended. House and Wilson stared solemnly at the unmoving computer screen.

"So...did you have a vision?" Wilson asked finally.

House nodded, but didn't elaborate.

"There's no proof that any of this is true," Wilson pointed out. "How would anybody know whether what they saw will happen in the future? They could have just been...dreams. Or...hallucinations, even."

"Right," House agreed. "Hallucinations that happen to correspond to one another."

"The...the people could have been lying," Wilson shrugged, avoiding House's eye. "Anything for a news story."

"Yes, everybody lies," House said. "I'm sure what you saw and what I saw were completely different."

"They probably were," Wilson agreed. "Listen, I've got patients...I should go. If you need anything or you want to go home...page me."

"Okay," House said.

For a moment they made eye contact as Wilson opened the door, but they both looked away quickly.

Wilson met Cuddy on his way downstairs. "You're still here?" Cuddy asked, looking defeated. "You should go home, get some rest."

"You're still here," Wilson pointed out. "And you've been here since at least five this morning-sorry-yesterday morning."

"No, just six," Cuddy sighed. "But it's all right. Lucas is with Rachel, I'm checking in with him every few hours, it's fine."

"Lisa, you're the one who should go home," Wilson insisted.

Cuddy shook her head. "I'm needed here."

She started to walk off but he put a hand on her shoulder. "What did you...I mean...do you mind if I ask what you saw?"

Cuddy smiled. "I was at home. I was putting Rachel to bed. She was bigger, she had more teeth. And she said, 'mama.' I was smiling at her, I ran my fingers through her hair. I kissed her forehead. Then I woke up on the floor outside my office. I looked around, and everywhere, nurses and doctors were getting up off the floor. Some were helping patients back into wheelchairs that had slid out. Everyone had the same confused look on their face." She sighed. Her smile had disappeared. "Why? What did you see?"

Wilson shook his head. "Nothing."

Cuddy looked at him with concern. "I know what they're saying, but that doesn't necessarily mean-"

"-No, I don't mean I didn't see anything," Wilson corrected, smiling. "I just meant I...don't want to talk about it."

"What about House? Did he tell you what he saw?"

"He didn't have to."

"Oh, you were together?"

Panic crossed Wilson's face before he realized that Cuddy hadn't meant it that way.

She looked at him. "Is everything okay?"

"I've gotta go," Wilson said, looking at the ground. "I've got...patients. Lots and lots of patients." He sighed. Cuddy touched his arm sympathetically before walking off. She was still wearing sneakers.


	4. Not the Future

**A/N:** There's some het sex here, but not _explicit_. I'm pretty sure a T rating is fine.

The sun was up before Wilson finally admitted defeat. He could barely stand up, let alone treat anyone. He went back upstairs for House, who was asleep at his desk.

Wilson put a hand on his shoulder to shake him awake.

"Nnn...what?" House asked, opening his eyes.

"Hey. If you wanted to go to sleep, why didn't you tell me? I would have taken you home."

"You had patients," House shrugged.

"Well, let's go now. I need some sleep, too. How's your leg?"

"The ibuprofen is doing its best." House stood up and walked with Wilson to the elevators, but he was favoring his leg more than usual.

They were quiet until they got to the parking lot and House offered to drive.

"Thanks," Wilson said, gratefully handing over the keys.

"I'm not doing it for you. I just don't want you falling asleep at the wheel and adding another two to the seventeen-million blackout death toll."

"Too soon," Wilson murmured, rubbing his temples as he got in the car. He leaned his head against the cool window and fell asleep immediately.

House glanced at him as he drove. Could it be true, what they were saying? Sure, he'd thought about it occasionally, but never seriously. He saw Wilson's face before him, laughing.

_"Say it back." "Come on, you already know-" "-You say it, though. Remember?" "All right, fine. I love you, James Wilson." He smiled in spite of himself and they kissed..._

House shook his head. It couldn't actually happen. Besides, Wilson was dating that bitch Sam anyway. Of course, by the time the flash-forward was supposed to have occurred, he'd probably have gone through another six or seven girls, but still...what did any of them know? Just because a bunch of people saw corresponding stories didn't mean any of it would actually happen. Fate wasn't real. The future depended on the choices people made. Wilson would choose not to ever date his best friend. And then it wouldn't be real. Satisfied, House pulled into the parking garage and shook Wilson awake.

* * *

"Sam!" Wilson said, rushing up to her and pulling her into a tight embrace. He'd spoken to her several times since the blackout, but it was still a relief to see her safe, to hold her in his arms.

"James, you're all right, thank god."

"You knew I was all right, we talked."

"I know, but I had to see it for myself."

He smiled at her and kissed her briefly. "I can't stay too long, I want to go back to the hospital tonight and help out."

"I know, I can't imagine how awful it must be." She shook her head, leading him to the couch. "They were saying this afternoon that the death toll is up to 18.5 million."

"Thank god you weren't one of them," he murmured, wetly kissing the side of her mouth. She responded, sliding her tongue between his lips and slipping her hands around his waist. He ran his fingers through her curly blonde hair and they started to stand up, lips still together. She helped take off his jacket and, between kisses, he gently pulled her top over her head. The couple made their way to the bedroom, Sam undoing his tie and Wilson unhooking her bra. His shirt was half off and they panted, climbing together onto the bed. She removed his hands from her breasts so that she could get his shirt the rest of the way off. He helped her, hurriedly, and returned to fondling her chest. Her nipples hardened beneath his hands, and he felt himself hardening beneath her embrace.

They made love passionately, crying each other's names during coitus, and then lied down together, staring into each other's eyes.

"I love you," Wilson whispered, placing a lock of hair behind her ear.

"I love you," she whispered back at him, leaning forward for a kiss. They kissed for a few more minutes and then Wilson caught sight of the clock and groaned.

"Forget it. They can manage without me. I can stay."

Sam smiled at him. "I'd like that." She kissed him again. "But you should go. You'll feel bad tomorrow if you don't."

He sighed. "You're right." He kissed her again and they both got up, looking for their clothes.

"So," Sam said conversationally, slipping her bra back on. "What did you see in your vision?"

Wilson, who had just picked his belt up off the floor, promptly dropped it again. "Uh, you go first," he evaded, buying time.

Sam shrugged. "I was just lying in bed, reading. Not all that exciting."

"What book?" he asked, trying to think up a lie quickly.

"I don't know. Something by Stephen King, I think. What'd you see?"

She looked into his eyes, noticed his discomfort, and frowned. "What's the matter? You had a flash-forward, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did," Wilson said, looking away on the pretense of locating his socks.

"Why don't you want to tell me?"

"Because I don't think you'll like what you'll hear," he answered honestly.

"James," she said, putting a hand on his shoulder and leaning her head down to catch his eye. "I love you. You can trust me. Tell me."

"I was kissing...someone." He sighed. "Someone who wasn't you."

"Oh," she said, and her shoulders fell. "Another woman?"

"No, a man," Wilson said, but he made his tone sarcastic so she'd think he was kidding.

"All right, well..." Sam shrugged. "It's okay. I'm glad you told me. That doesn't mean it's going to happen. Now that we know, we can take measures to prevent it." She slipped his arms around him and kissed his cheek. "James, I love you. Don't stress out about this. Just because you saw it doesn't mean it's going to come true."

"I know," Wilson admitted, holding her tight.

"I'm glad you told me," she repeated, resting her head on his shoulder.

He stroked her hair. "I love you, Sam. I'm not going to cheat on you. And I'm not going to leave you."

**A/N: **Yeah it sure seems that way doesn't it. I'm so frustrated right now. Anyway, the next chapter will be up in three days.


	5. FlashForwards

**April 12**

Things at the hospital were slowly returning to normal. The blackout patients that had needed to stay in the hospital were starting to get discharged, routine surgeries were rescheduled, and House was back with his team working on a new case.

"Fourteen year old female."

"_Pregnant_ fourteen year old female."

"Send her upstairs to pediatrics. Or OB-GYN."

"Her symptoms have nothing to do with her pregnancy. We take sick kids all the time. They send them to us when pediatrics can't figure out what's wrong with them."

"I know what's wrong with her. She's an idiot. Or her parents are idiots. Probably both. You know how genes work."

"House."

"Come on, it's obviously an STD."

"She's been tested. They're all negative. So is her tox screen."

House continued to banter with his fellows before finally opening the file and assigning them all to run various tests. He decided it had been too long since he'd last seen the inside of a fourteen year old girl's bedroom and went with Taub to check for environmental causes.

"So, what'd you see in your flash-forward?" Taub asked as they stepped into the house.

"Oh god, are we really gonna do this?" House responded, rolling his eyes. "Well I already know what you saw. Ten pm, that's around the time you bang the blonde nurse."

"Actually I was taking a shower. At home."

"So your wife went out and you banged her at your place."

"I'm not that stupid."

"Well that's news," House retorted, heading to the bathroom to find samples.

"Seriously, though, what did you see?"

"I was at an Italian restaurant. I was telling the waiter I wanted more garlic bread. And the spaghetti didn't have enough sauce. Now that I'm forewarned, I don't plan on actually going there."

Taub didn't ask again.

**April 13**

The prepubescent whore wasn't improving. She should have responded to treatment by now. Thirteen and Foreman took her parents away for coffee so House and Chase could interrogate her without them there to influence her answers. Although, since her parents already knew she was pregnant at fourteen and hadn't murdered her, House doubted there'd be anything else she'd be afraid to admit to them.

The girl insisted she was telling the truth, but in the middle of the interview she started crashing. Chase stabilized her but she'd lost consciousness. He and House waited for her parents to get back.

Wanting to pass the time, Chase asked, "What did you see in your flash-forward?"

House groaned. "You, too? What is this, the newest pick up line?"

Chase shrugged. "I was here. Thirteen and I were running labs on a patient. We ruled out a fungal infection."

"You do know that when the time comes, I'm still gonna make you run the labs."

"Well, obviously."

House looked at him. "You really believe in all that this is the future stuff?"

"Why not? It makes sense. All the stories are corroborating. You should see some of the stuff on that mosaic website. And I talked to Thirteen. She saw the same thing I did. She asked me what color her hair was. I told her red. She'd dyed it. How can we both have seen that if it won't actually happen?"

"Simple. On October 28th, sneak into Thirteen's place and shave her head. Then you'll see what comes true."

Chase shook his head. "If you're afraid to tell me, that's fine."

"I was in a movie theater watching Julia Roberts make out with Angelina Jolie. I was getting a hard on."

Chase sighed, and then noticed Thirteen and Foreman returning with the patient's parents and stood up.

* * *

House sat in his desk, throwing the red ball into the air. Foreman came in.

"Patient cured yet?"

"No, but she doesn't seem to be getting worse either."

"She just crashed two hours ago."

"I know, but she's stable now. She's had no new symptoms in the past twelve hours."

"Except when her heart stopped."

"That was probably a reaction to the medicine we gave her."

"What is it you want, Foreman?"

Foreman looked at him over the chart he was holding. "Just keeping you updated."

"Why don't you update me when something actually happens?"

"All right, fine." He paused before heading out the door. "What did you see in your flash-forward?"

"I was jerking myself in the shower. Why don't you go ask the patient what she saw in her flash-forward so we can find out if she's even alive six months from now?"

Without even attempting to tell his own flash-forward story, Foreman left.

**April 14**

The machine beeped. House stared through the glass, twirling his cane, trying to think. What was he missing?

Thirteen stepped up next to him and silently handed him a cup of coffee. She stared at the patient, too. He stared at her.

She looked at him. "What?"

"Aren't you going to ask me what I saw in my flash-forward?"

"What's the point? It's not like you're gonna tell me the truth."

"You've talked to the others, then."

"They didn't believe it even when you told them. They're too used to you by now. I think they just wanted an opportunity to share their stories."

"Don't you want an opportunity to share yours?"

"You already know mine. I was running labs with Chase. I'd dyed my hair red."

"He could have been lying too."

"But he wasn't."

They looked at each other.

"All right, since I know you're dying for me to ask, tell me, House, what did you see in your flash-forward?"

"I was making out with Wilson."

Thirteen smiled and shook her head. "You were just waiting for that one, weren't you?"

House sighed and watched his patient through the glass. "Yes. Yes I was."


	6. Fate

**A/N:** More sex, I still wouldn't call it explicit. Not really. You don't actually see anything.

**May 2**

Wilson's breathing was getting really heavy. He pressed his lips against his lover's one more time before panting, "Maybe we should take this to the bedroom."

House nodded heavily, running a hand through Wilson's hair and then grabbing his leg to help himself off the couch.

They almost didn't make it to the bedroom, because in the middle of the hallway Wilson started kissing him again. He pressed House's body against the wall, squeezing his hair between his fingers. His other hand reached under House's waistband. House moaned as Wilson fondled him and he grabbed the younger man's ass in return, pulling their bodies together. Finally Wilson shook his head, grabbed House's hand, and half dragged him into the bedroom and onto the bed.

He woke up the next morning feeling peaceful and relaxed. He smiled at the ceiling and checked the alarm clock to see what time it was before he realized that he was in Sam's bed, not House's.

Damn. Why did he keep having these dreams? He sighed and rolled over, wishing he could go back to sleep. At least Sam was already in the shower and not present to witness his disappointment. That one he'd genuinely thought was real. Sometimes it was just the flash-forward kiss, replaying over and over, and Wilson woke up knowing that it was just a dream, just a vision. But these other dreams, the ones where they kissed on the couch, or at work, or even made love, these ones were actually convincing. And their frequency had increased tenfold since the flash-forward.

It wasn't like Wilson had never thought of kissing House, of being in a romantic relationship with him. He just didn't think he had those kinds of feelings for his best friend. He'd been married three times, he was obviously very attracted to women, so he couldn't be gay. Everyone had sexual thoughts about people in their lives they weren't attracted to sometimes. It just happened. Wilson sometimes thought of sleeping with Cuddy, too, but that didn't mean he was in love with her. He knew he cared about House more than anyone in the world, even Sam. But he wasn't in love. He'd get an exciting dream now and then, but that didn't really mean anything. None of his dreams ever really made sense, so why should he read more into the very occasional House sex dream than he would any other dream?

The only problem was that they weren't "very occasional" any more. Since the blackout, he'd been having them several times a week. He didn't tell anyone about this, of course, and he and House hadn't even come close to discussing their flash-forwards since they'd watched the news clip in House's office. Wilson had a nagging feeling the dreams were trying to tell him he was in love with House, but that just couldn't be true. He loved Sam.

Wilson got out of bed and started to tiptoe to the bathroom, with the plan of surprising Sam in the shower and showing her just how much he loved her. She emerged before he could get there, though, a towel around her body and another one being used to dry her hair.

"Good morning, James," she smiled.

"Why good morning," Wilson replied, starting to pull off her towel and drawing her closer.

Sam laughed. "James, I just took a shower."

"You can take another one," Wilson murmured, kissing her earlobe. She wrapped her arms around him and let him kiss her, but when he tugged at her towel again she pulled back.

"James, I've got work. We don't have time. But tonight," she whispered seductively into his ear, "I'll let you take off any article of clothing you see fit, and I'll let you kiss me anywhere you want, and I'll kiss you anywhere you want, and-"

He cut her off by crushing her lips to his. She kissed back for a moment but when he started to get really deep she pulled back.

"James," she sighed. "Stop it. I'm already running late." She removed herself from his embrace and went to the closet to go get dressed.

Wilson sighed too. He took care of himself in the shower, trying his hardest to think of Sam and not House.

* * *

"Morning, Wilson."

"Morning, Cuddy."

He kept his voice cheerful, but she still looked at him with concern. "Something wrong?"

His face fell. "Is it that obvious?"

Cuddy shrugged. "I guess the blackout's affected everyone differently. You just haven't seemed quite yourself lately."

"I know," Wilson admitted. He looked around. House was nowhere to be found. He took a step closer to Cuddy. "Can I tell you what I saw?" he asked.

"Of course," she responded, surprised.

"But...you have to promise not to tell anyone. And please don't let on to House that you know."

She looked a bit confused, but nodded and escorted Wilson into her office, perching herself on the edge of her desk.

After closing the door, Wilson looked back out again to make sure House wasn't in the vicinity. He stepped close to Cuddy again.

"We were kissing."

She still looked confused. "Who-"

"House and I," Wilson explained. "We were in the living room of our condo, we were laughing and smiling at each other, and we were kissing. And...he told me he loved me."

Understanding appeared on Cuddy's face. "I see."

"Yeah. And I don't know what to do."

"Have you two talked about it?" she asked, a frown line appearing on her forehead.

"Of course not. Nothing's ever happened between us like that, we've always been just...well we've never been just friends, but, you know, nothing romantic has ever happened between us before. The night of the blackout, when we first heard on the news the theory that people saw their future, I just asked him if he had a vision and he said he did. Then, without either of us mentioning what we saw, we assured each other that these visions were probably not real and wouldn't come true."

Cuddy rolled her eyes. "Of course you did."

"And since then, we've just pretended like it never happened. There never was a blackout. We've never kissed, we never will, and we have no reason whatsoever to believe we ever will."

Cuddy eyed him. "Except?"

Wilson sighed and paced around her office. "Except I keep getting these dreams. Sometimes it's just my flash-forward vision again. Other times it's not. I try to ignore it, tell myself it will go away, they don't mean anything. Except they're getting more and more frequent, more and more realistic, and more and more intense. This morning I actually woke up thinking I was in House's bed and that we'd slept together last night." He looked at Cuddy sheepishly. "And when I realized that I was actually in Sam's bed, my immediate reaction was...disappointment. And that scares me."

Cuddy massaged her temples.

"Lisa, tell me," Wilson implored. "Do you think these flash-forwards are gonna come true?"

"I don't know," she answered. "I mean, mine was so mundane, it's something that happens every day. On October 29th, will I be putting Rachel to bed at exactly 10pm, will I dress her in those pajamas, and will she look at me and say 'mama' at exactly that moment? I don't know. Half the people you meet, their flash-forwards are just parts of life: brushing their teeth, talking on the phone with friends, watching television. And then the others, half of them are determined to see their flash-forwards come true and the other half are equally determined to not see them come true.

"But I'm not sure if I believe it's fate," she continued. "We still have the chance to make decisions that affect our future. If I wanted to, I could rearrange the furniture in Rachel's bedroom. That simple act would prevent my flash-forward from coming true just how it happened. If you're gonna figure out whether this future with you and House is really gonna happen, you first have to ask yourself, is that what you want to happen?"

Wilson ran his fingers through his hair. He shook his head. "I don't know."

**A/N: **The next update will be on Wednesday, but if you still want to leave a review asking me to update soon, I won't complain.


	7. Not Fate

**May 6**

"You're dying," House announced.

"What?" the old woman wheezed, clutching at her oxygen mask. "I can't be."

"There's nothing we can do. The disease is too advanced. You have anywhere from eight to ten hours before your organs fail completely. I can put you on a morphine drip to ease the pain."

"But...but...this can't be true," she stammered. "I had a flash-forward. I saw myself, I was with my grandchildren. I was taking them to the park."

"I had a flash-forward, too. That doesn't mean that it's going to come true."

The woman sat in her bed and stared straight at the wall. "I don't believe this."

"I'm sorry," House said shortly.

She looked up at him, her eyes pleading. "You're positive about this? There's no way I'm going to make it?"

House shook his head. "Your liver and kidneys suffered too much damage. We've notified your next of kin, and hopefully you'll have a chance to see them before..." House trailed off. "Is there anything else I can do?" he asked her. Not that he usually cared that much about what he could do for patients other than figure out what was wrong with them. But the woman looked so stunned to hear she would be dead before the end of the day, and he felt that he'd failed her somehow, even though once he found the source of the problem he knew there was no hope of recovery.

The woman looked at him. No, she studied him. "Sit a moment," she requested, gesturing at the chair beside her bed.

The more time he wasted in here, the longer he could put off doing his clinic hours. House sat down. She continued to look at him. "You have remarkably blue eyes."

"Okay, when I asked if there was anything else I could do, I-"

She chuckled and shook her head. "Tell me. You said you were certain your flash-forward wouldn't come true. What makes you think that? What did you see?"

House hesitated and looked away. He hadn't told anyone the truth, except Thirteen, and he'd made sure to first lead her to believe he was lying.

"It's all right," she said, smiling. "I'm not going to tell anyone. If your secret's safe with anyone, it's me."

The words jogged House's memory. The last time he'd confided in a dying person, it had helped. Maybe he should make a habit out of it.

"Okay," he agreed, looking at her. "I was kissing my best friend."

"Why, that's a lovely flash-forward," she exclaimed. "What's her name?"

"It's a him, not a her. And his name's Wilson. Well...James."

"Oh, I see," the woman said, nodding. "And the two of you aren't..."

"We're not gay," House insisted. He leaned back in his chair. "At least, until a month ago I didn't think we were."

"Well from the sound of it, your feelings of friendship have grown into something more."

"It's stupid," House insisted. "The man's been married three times and has had more girlfriends than I've had birthdays-"

"-And clearly he still isn't satisfied. Because perhaps what he's looking for, he hasn't found yet. He hasn't realized that it's actually been right in front of him the whole time."

House stared at the old woman. She held the oxygen mask up to her face and smiled at him through it.

"I'm guessing you care for him very much. Maybe more than you let on."

"He knows I care about him," House said bluntly.

"But he clearly doesn't know you're in love with him, or you'd already be together."

"I'm not in love with him. And even if I were, it wouldn't matter. He's seeing someone. He's always seeing someone. No matter what I do about it, he's always seeing someone." He didn't try to hide the bitterness in his voice. It was no secret how he felt about all of Wilson's girlfriends.

"Well maybe if you told him how you felt," the woman suggested, taking a deep breath, "he wouldn't feel the need to see other people. Maybe your flash-forward is showing you--both of you, that you could have the opportunity for something more. If you just go for it."

House looked at her for a moment. "You're an idiot," he said finally, getting up and leaving.

**A/N: **I know it's short, I'm sorry. To make it up to you, I'll post chapter 8 after only two days instead of my usual three.


	8. Enough

**May 15**

Wilson's phone rang. It was Sam. He groaned.

"Hello?"

"Hi, James, it's me."

"Hi, Sam. How's your day?"

He looked at his paperwork while she went through her brief description, nodding along, forgetting she couldn't see him.

"Are you gonna come over tonight?" she asked finally. "I know you've been really busy with work, but it's been awhile since..."

"Yeah, I know," Wilson said. "I've just got some paperwork to finish, but I'll definitely be over later. I'll bring a pizza. How's that sound?"

"Sounds great. I love you, James."

"You too," he responded, pinching the bridge of his nose. He snapped the phone shut and returned to his paperwork.

* * *

He kissed her. He sucked on her ears, he played with her breasts, he did everything he always did. But his heart wasn't in it.

He was determined not to punish her for this. It wasn't her fault. She hadn't done anything wrong. Why should she suffer just because he was hung up on some stupid vision that wouldn't even come true anyway?

But she noticed.

"James, what's wrong?" she asked, pulling back. "You've been so quiet tonight. What's the matter?"

Wilson shrugged. "I don't know. I want to be with you. I guess I'm just...not in the mood."

"No, it's more than that," Sam pressed, shaking her head. "It's not just tonight. The last few weeks. You've been distant. You're here, but you're not here."

"I don't know," Wilson repeated.

Sam sighed and sat back against the couch. "Is this about your flash-forward? You're remembering yourself kissing that other woman and you're thinking that it's her you're meant to be with, and not me?"

"That's not fair," Wilson said. "I didn't ask for the flash-forward. I want to still be with you, six months from now and six years from now. I don't want to be kissing anyone else, even if it is-" he cut himself off, but the damage had been done.

"Even if it is who?" Sam asked, looking sternly at him. "James, is there something you haven't told me? Do you know the person you're kissing? Have you met her since the blackout?"

"No!" Wilson insisted, putting his hands up in defense and shaking his head. But he'd never been a good liar.

"That's it, isn't it?" Sam looked like she was deflating. "There's someone else. You've met this other woman, you've seen yourself kissing her, and you're thinking it's fate or something and she's the one you're meant to be with, not me."

"Sam, it's not what you think," Wilson insisted, taking her hand.

She pulled away. "What's the point? In my flash-forward, I was alone. I was sitting in my room, reading. You were with someone."

"This isn't what I wanted. Sam, look at me, it's you I want to be with."

She did look at him. She looked at his eyes, his pleading eyes.

"James, I believe that a part of you wants to be with me. But obviously this other woman has taken ahold of your mind." She got up off the couch. "Who knows? Maybe October 29th will come and go, and you'll realize that it's me you want all along. But until then, you should just go and satisfy your curiosity." She handed him his coat.

He stared at her. "You're dumping me?"

"James, I can't be with you if you're halfway out the door, thinking of somebody else."

Wilson took his coat and left the apartment. He slammed the door behind him. Not mad at Sam, mad at himself, mad at House, mad at the world. At the stupid flash-forward that wouldn't even come true whether he wanted it to or not. Now he'd just be alone.

* * *

Wilson slammed the condo door.

"I thought you were spending the night with Sam," House greeted from the couch.

"She dumped me," Wilson's hurt, indignant voice explained.

"Why?" House asked, watching Wilson sit down on the couch next to him.

"Why do you think?"

"She found out you sing Taylor Swift in the shower?"

"Because of the flash-forward," Wilson said, glaring at House even though he knew it wasn't his fault.

"Oh." Then House looked at Wilson. "Wait, you told her?"

"Not that it was you. I told her I was kissing someone that...wasn't her and then I let her go ahead and believe it was just some woman that I haven't met yet."

"Okay. Well since you're here, I'm kinda hungry, you could-"

"-House," Wilson interrupted, catching his eye. "Don't you think it's time we talked about this?"

"No."

"I think we should," Wilson insisted.

"Fine." House sighed. "We were kissing. There. I've said it. We've talked about it. Hand me the phone, I'll call for some Chinese food."

"We weren't just kissing, House," Wilson pressed. "We were...together. We were a couple."

"Unless we were just cheating on our significant others with each other."

"House, tell me. Us...together...a couple...is that something...that you want?" Wilson's heart raced now that he'd finally asked the question he'd wondered about so long. The question that he would not be able to answer himself were it asked to him. He felt his heart beating in his chest and watched the diagnostician, waiting for his answer.

House didn't look at him. He sighed. "What difference does it make? We both know it's not gonna happen. All these people who say the flash-forwards are gonna come true have no idea what they're talking about. I had a patient, an old woman, she swore she had a flash-forward. She told me about it. Nine hours later she was dead. No flash-forward for her. They're not real, Wilson."

"But if it could come true," Wilson continued, looking at House's face, waiting for him to look up and make eye contact. "Would you want it to?"

"I don't know!"

They finally looked at each other.

"I don't know," House repeated, carefully gauging Wilson's reaction. House's hand was on his thigh, ready to get off the couch and leave should the need arise.

Wilson shrugged and looked at the floor. "I don't know either." It was almost a whisper.

House leaned back and rubbed his leg. "We're done talking about his," he stated.

Wilson sighed and nodded. Enough was enough.


	9. Distractions

**May 28**

"Okay, you can leave now."

"Thank you, Dr. House."

Clinic hours weren't so bad when the patients were hot. The only difference between being professional and being unprofessional was whether the patient noticed you looking. This one didn't. She'd talked at him, though, and that was kind of annoying. He wasn't listening, obviously, but he'd picked up something about a dinner at a fancy restaurant with some guy she'd wanted to ask out forever but had been too shy until last week.

"Oooh, that's him," she said excitedly as her cell phone rang.

House rolled his eyes as he marked her chart.

"Hi! What's up? Oh..." her face fell. House rolled his eyes again. "I understand. No, that's fine. Okay, see you at work Monday. Bye." She closed her phone sadly.

"See, this is why women should go for guys who are brutally honest. If it were me, I'd tell you from the get-go that no, I don't want to go out with you, you seem way too desperate and needy for me. That way at least you won't get your hopes up before you get hurt."

She sniffed. "And I won't make nonrefundable hotel reservations that I won't be able to keep."

* * *

House rolled over in the bed. She snuggled close to him. "That was nice," she whispered.

"They say the thread count helps."

"Mmm." She rested her head on his chest. He didn't really like it, but didn't complain. She had been a pretty good lay, and dinner wasn't that bad either. "We should do this again sometime."

He grunted noncommittally. They lied in silence for a few minutes, but she clearly wasn't trying to sleep.

"Why the hotel anyway?" he asked finally. "You said you didn't have kids, you're not married. Even with the guy, this would have been a first date, not some special occasion. This means there's something about your place you didn't want him to see. Something you're embarrassed about."

"Oh no, I just have a couple of roommates," she explained.

"I have a roommate too, but I can still kick him out when I wanna bring a girl home."

She laughed. "I can't kick them out. They own the home. I live with my parents."

**June 10**

"Hi, Dr. Wilson."

"Hi, Charlene," he greeted in return, smiling at her.

She flashed her teeth back and started to walk off, but he stopped and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Charlene, wait."

"Hmm?" she asked, brushing a long strand of dirty-blonde hair behind her ears.

"I just wanted to say I saw you in Kimmy's room the other day. You definitely went above and beyond your duties as an oncology nurse. She really opened up to you and trusted you, and you know what a shy girl she is. That really impressed me." He still had his hand on her shoulder.

She smiled again. "Thanks, Dr. Wilson. I just try to do whatever I can to make their days a little brighter."

"That's very sweet of you." Wilson swallowed and then looked the young woman in the eye. "Would you...like to have dinner sometime? I know a fantastic Italian place not far from here. Their veal parmesan is to die for."

She looked slightly surprised but very pleased. "I work tomorrow, but I have Saturday night off. You can pick me up at eight."

"Sounds great," he said, letting go of her.

"Bye, Dr. Wilson," she said flirtatiously as she walked off.

**June 12**

She smiled at him when she opened the door. She wore a sparkly red dress that showed a lot of cleavage, and her wavy blonde hair came almost to her waist.

"Hi, Dr. Wilson. You can come in for a minute. I just need to grab my purse."

"Sure. You look great by the way."

"Thanks. You clean up nice yourself."

* * *

"So, Dr. Wilson, how long have you worked at Princeton-Plainsboro?"

"A while now. You do know that you can call me James, right?" He scrutinized her over the salad.

She laughed. "Of course." Then she brought her head down close to the table and whispered, "But I think 'Dr. Wilson' is sexy."

* * *

He kissed her. He kissed her neck. She moaned. "Oooh, Dr. Wilson, that feels good."

He sucked on the side of her neck, but his hand gripped one of the couch cushions. He tried to fight the voice in his head, House's voice, echoing 'Wilson,' every time Charlene said it. Finally he pulled back. "I can't do this."

She opened her eyes and looked at him, confused. "What's the matter, Dr. Wilson?"

He never snapped. He was kind and patient and gave people chances. He didn't get angry, he got upset. He never snapped. But every time her sexy moaning voice murmured, "Dr. Wilson..."

So he snapped.

"If I'm gonna have my surname screamed at me during sex, I don't want it to be from you!" He regretted this sentence the instant it slipped out, but he could apologize later. He left. He cringed at the sound of door slamming behind him and he squeezed at the hair on his scalp.

**A/N: **Only two chapters left!


	10. Choices

**June 25**

"House."

"Wilson."

"House!"

"Wilson."

"Oh, House!"

"James!"

"Oh my god, Greg, oh!"

Wilson woke up sweating.

Damn! This was so stupid. Maybe he should see a psychiatrist. Maybe they could put him on some sort of medication so he wouldn't have any more dreams. Or at least so he wouldn't remember them. He looked at the clock and sighed. Only 11:03. He went into the bathroom, masturbated in silence, washed his hands, and then traipsed into the living room.

House was still up, watching TV. Wilson sat down on the couch next to him, putting his head in his hands.

"Thought you went to bed."

"Had a bad dream."

"Well you're all better now. I promise there's no monsters hiding under the bed. Or in the closet."

Wilson sighed and continued to run his fingers through his hair, leaning forward on the couch. House glanced at him, but his eyes were closed and he didn't notice.

"House?" he said finally, looking up.

"Hmm?"

"Have you ever thought about it before? I mean, before the blackout happened, had you ever thought about...us?"

For a moment House was silent. Wilson watched him, making sure he wasn't going to roll his eyes or sigh or complain or make some sarcastic remark.

Without looking at him, House answered, "Sure I've _thought_ about it, Wilson. We've been friends for years, we're the only constant in each other's lives. Yes, I've _thought_ about it."

"And...when you have these...thoughts," Wilson said slowly, eyeing him, "what conclusions do you draw from them?"

"I draw the conclusion that the thoughts are stupid and unrealistic. You're not gonna look at me that way, not when you've got the tight-assed nurses drooling all over you. You're a doctor, you're good-looking, you're still pretty young. You can get any girl you want. Yes, the thoughts come, but I ignore them. It's like the flash-forward. They're not real."

Wilson sighed. He ran his fingers through his hair again.

"Why?" House asked, looking at him finally. "Did you have thoughts about us before the blackout?"

Wilson nodded.

"And what conclusions did you come to?"

"I came to the conclusion that I _did not_ have romantic feelings for my best friend. My love for him was strictly platonic. I was straight, I was only attracted to women, I could not possibly be attracted to a man no matter how much I loved him."

"All right then." House was looking straight forward again.

"And then the blackout happened," Wilson continued. "And I thought about it some more. And some more. And I came to the conclusion that I was wrong. Not only do I in fact have the capacity to be attracted to my male best friend, I am completely and hopelessly in love with him and I have been for years."

House looked at him. Wilson looked back.

"Years?"

"Denial can be very powerful when it wants to be."

"And this life changing epiphany occurred...?"

"A couple of months ago."

"Months?"

House scrutinized him. Wilson nodded.

"So when you came in here wanting to talk about the flash-forward, asking me what I wanted, it was because _you_ were in love with _me_?"

"Yes."

House rubbed the back of his neck. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"You were the one who never wanted to talk about it. I assumed it was because you didn't..."

House shook his head, scooting closer to Wilson on the couch. "Fuck, Wilson! Don't you know what it does to me to see you with all those women?" He got closer, staring into Wilson's eyes. "Don't you know how many times a day I just look at you and suddenly want you?" He was very close now. Wilson could feel his breath on his face. "Didn't you have the same flash-forward I did? Didn't you hear me? James fucking Wilson..." he breathed. He was inches away from Wilson's face, staring at him, his eyes piercing.

Wilson closed his eyes and felt House's lips on his. House's hands cupped Wilson's face, holding him, keeping them together.

"Mnm," Wilson moaned into House's mouth, peeking his eyes open when House pulled back to look at him. They studied each other for a moment, eyes flicking back and forth. Then the two doctors simultaneously leaned forward again and kissed again. Wilson's hand clenched onto House's collar, House leaned Wilson back, hands on the back of his neck, running his fingers through his hair.

"Why..." Wilson asked, pulling away. He kissed House's throat- "...didn't..." -he kissed House's jaw- "...you..." -he kissed his earlobe- "...say anything?" he finished, kissing House on the mouth again, preventing him from answering right away.

House pulled back and scoffed. "I'm sorry."

Wilson shook his head in disbelief, leaning forward to kiss House again.

**June 26**

Wilson opened his eyes and panic overtook him. No. Not again. Please not again. That had seemed so real. It wasn't fair. How much longer would he have to suffer this? He moaned his frustration aloud.

"Dreaming of me again?" a voice said from right beside him.

Wilson sat up in bed and looked to his right.

House was there, propped up on his elbow, smiling at him.

"It wasn't a dream," Wilson said breathlessly. "Oh my god. This time it wasn't a dream."

"Well I'd better pinch you to make sure," House decided, reaching over.

"Ow! House!" Wilson reached his arms up for defense, trying to protect himself while House, chuckling, tried to reach around his arms to pinch him. Before he knew it he was back on his back and the diagnostician was on top of him, sucking on his neck and clavicle while he moaned, good moans this time.

* * *

"Good morning, underlings," House greeted, sitting down at the table and putting his feet up.

"Well someone's in a cheerful mood," Chase commented, staring at House suspiciously.

"I got laid last night. And then again this morning," he announced.

"Thanks for sharing," Taub groaned, rubbing his temples.

"By the way, remember when I lied to you all about my flash-forward? I actually double-lied. I lied about lying. One of you actually got the truth. I'll leave you to bicker among yourselves who it was. On a related note, if we get a case, I'll be in Wilson's office. But knock first." He winked at them and traipsed out of the diagnostic room to spend the morning making it difficult for Wilson to get any work done.

**A/N: **Just one chapter left! Does the flash-forward come true? Or do they screw it up somehow? Is it really fate or can the future be changed? Find out next time on Flash!


	11. October 29

**October 29 - Flash-Forward Day**

Wilson woke up with House's arms around his chest. He smiled to himself, picked up one of House's fingers and kissed it. House was still asleep and didn't notice. Wilson didn't mind. He lied there contentedly for a few minutes before he changed his mind, grabbed two breath mints from the bedside table, and rolled over on top of his lover, kissing him awake.

"Nmn!" House complained, but negated it by kissing Wilson back.

"Good morning."

"It's still night time. I'm sleeping."

"It's actually seven, but if you'd _really_ rather go back to sleep then I guess that's okay," Wilson said, starting to roll back off House. House wrapped his arms around Wilson to keep him from going anywhere and kissed him, showing he hadn't actually meant what he'd said. Wilson chuckled through the kiss as his hands moved up and down House's body.

* * *

"Ready to go?"

House looked up from his desk, sighed, and shook his head. "I'll get a cab. I need to figure out what's going on with my patient."

Wilson furrowed his brow. "I can wait, if you want."

"No, go on home. I'm...not sure how late I'll be."

"But..." Wilson's eyes showed a bit of panic and House's stomach dropped. "It's tonight."

House sighed. "I know. It's the damn patient. But, come on, we're still...you know...isn't that enough?"

"I guess," Wilson sighed. House's eyes looked apologetic, so Wilson decided to forgive him. He walked over to the diagnostician's desk, leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. House leaned his head to meet him, and put his pen down so he could hold Wilson's cheek. Wilson pulled back a bit, pressed his forehead against House's, and whispered, "Get back as soon as you can, okay?"

House nodded and kissed his lover one more time, gently, before Wilson left to go home.

* * *

House looked at the clock on the cab's dashboard. 9:54. Shit.

"Do you think you could go a little faster?" House grumbled. "I'm kind of in a hurry."

"Don not worry," the driver assured him. "In my flash-forward you are not the man riding in my cab. You will make it on time."

House rolled his eyes.

The cab pulled up to the front of House's building; House paid him and went inside. He tapped his cane against the floor while he waited for the elevator. He got into the loft and saw a dejected looking Wilson on the couch watching Times Square coverage of the flash-forward. Wilson looked over at House as he walked in and his face lit up.

"You came!"

"That's what she said."

Ignoring his lover's remark, Wilson hurried over to greet House with a kiss. House set his backpack on the floor and hooked his cane over his elbow so he could wrap his arms around James's waist and kiss him deeply.

Cheers emerged from the television proclaiming 10:00, the moment of the flash-forwards, and Wilson and House laughed at his perfect timing. They looked at each other, Wilson beaming, and he leaned in to kiss House again. First gently, then with his tongue. This felt nice, but he wanted to look into his lover's eyes, see his smile, so he pulled back. House looked at him and Wilson fell in love all over again. He shook his head and grinned. "I love you."

"I know," House answered, playing with Wilson's hair.

"Say it back," Wilson grinned.

"Come on, you already know-"

"-You say it, though. Remember?"

House rolled his eyes. "All right, fine." He leaned in closer, maintaining eye contact. "I love you, James Wilson."

Wilson laughed, thrilled, and leaned in to kiss House but the older man had gone to kiss Wilson's ear, averting his mouth. Then Wilson heard a whisper, so soft and quiet he could barely make out the words. The sound of the air hitting his ear was actually louder than the words themselves, but he heard them.

"You are, and always have been, the love of my life." And then House's lips were against his ear again, kissing. Wilson closed his eyes and savored the moment. When House finished kissing him he just rested his head on his shoulder, absentmindedly stroking Wilson's hair. Wilson pulled back to look at him.

"That part wasn't in the flash-forward," he accused, narrowing his eyes at House and trying not to smile.

House shrugged. "Add 'changing the future' to the list of my many talents."

Wilson smiled. "But you know," he said wistfully.

"Hmm?"

"I think I liked it better this way."

**A/N:** The end! I personally love the ending so I really hope you liked it too. Thank you so much to everyone who's reviewed, I appreciate it so much.


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